Nebraska Innovation Campus announces 3 new partners

February 3, 2015 ·
2 min read

Nebraska Innovation Campus announces 3 new partners

Nebraska Innovation Campus has announced three new partners. Dan Duncan, executive director of NIC, said Hastings HVAC, Echo Canyon Services and Quantified Ag would move into space on campus later this year.

“NIC and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln welcome these three companies and are excited about the culture and innovation they bring in becoming our partners,” Duncan said.

While attending the 2014 NMotion Accelerator Demo Day at NIC, Hastings Mayor Vern Powers, CEO of Hastings HVAC, became interested in the opportunities available on the campus.

“Since the inception of the NIC idea eight years ago, I’ve been intrigued about pairing private industry and our University of Nebraska system … and about how this pairing would not only benefit our state, but the world in its entirety,” Powers said.

Powers, a 1984 UNL graduate, also is president of Echo Canyon Services and is an investor and board member of Quantified Ag. Powers helped Quantified Ag as a mentor to its CEO, Vishal Singh, while the company went through the NMotion accelerator program in 2014.

Powers said he believes the companies’ ideas for research and new products could be coupled with the talent that Nebraska provides, and NIC is a perfect fit for him and his partners to begin that process.

UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman said he was pleased the new partners would be joining in the ongoing development of the Food Innovation Center, a 178,000 square-foot complex that houses the UNL Food Science and Technology Department as well as ConAgra Foods Inc. The center provides world-class facilities for the department as well as private partners in leased space.

“We are excited about Vern’s commitment to NIC and the three new partners that join us on our journey of innovation leading to economic growth for all of Nebraska,” Perlman said.